About Carol Simons Huddleston Photography

Canadian-born artist Carol Simons Huddleston has been using her camera to document her surroundings, and particularly her travels, for over 30 years. Carol grew up in the Pacific Northwest in both Vancouver, British Columbia and Corvallis, Oregon, and also lived in Berkeley, California before moving to Washington, DC in the mid-'70s.

Carol's training in photography has been ongoing. She initially studied at the Corcoran College of Art in the early '80s, as well as other DC learning venues, while working fulltime on Capitol Hill for Congressman Charlie Wilson of Texas (as in Charlie Wilson's War) where she remained for ten years. She avoided becoming an artist for years, choosing more lucrative opportunities instead of going the route of her passion, which was the arts. Carol has been a self-employed residential appraiser for going on 20 years, but in 2005 she started putting her photography "out there" in the hopes of making a name for herself as an artist, exhibiting locally through various arts organizations.

Carol's images are continually on display at The Art League Gallery in the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. The Gallery has approximately 1,000 members and hosts about 14 member-exhibitions each year which are all juried by a local arts professional. Additionally, in 2007 she juried to become a photographer-member of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA, which opened it's doors in the Fall of 2008. She was one of 15 original juried members of the Workhouse Photography Group (then Society), exhibiting her works in their gallery from its opening in November 2008 until November 2010.

Carol continues to attend workshops and expand her artistic vision. Over the years she has worked in the traditional wet darkroom, but now prefers the ever-changing technological advances that the digital world has to offer. Carol is listed in the publication American Art Collector, a juried competition published by Alcove Books out of Berkeley, California. She is a member of f11, which is a women's photography collective, and she is a member of the Vienna Photographic Society. She is a past member of both the Vienna Arts Society and the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), and is listed in WPA's 2008-2009 Artist Directory. An artist profile piece on Carol written by Donna Cedar-Southworth can be found in the July 2011 issue of élan magazine - a monthly magazine celebrating the arts.

"I shoot what catches my eye and what speaks to be at a given moment in time. Particularly during my travels, but not exclusively. The emotional connection I feel when I'm shooting a subject means more to me that shooting something that will hopefully be commercially successful or commercially lucrative. This way photography continues to fulfill something more in me than just making a good living. I need to be true to myself and authentic, but it needs to have an element of fun. Otherwise it will just become 'work' and the creativity will be lost."

Carol's photography can be found in private collections throughout the country, including the new Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Equipment: Nikkormat EL, Nikon F3-HP, Nikon D200, Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6G EDII, Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 80-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED, Nikon 60mm Macro, Lensbaby 3G Selective Focus Lens, Nikon SB-600 Autofocus Speedlight, Lumix DMC-FX150 Digital Camera, Epson UltraChrome Stylus R2400 Printer, Intuos3 4x5 Wacom Tablet